Great British Bake Off star Paul Hollywood admits that he is enjoying his new superstar status

Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood loves his superstar status – but says being a sex symbol is 'embarrassing and silly' (and his wife thinks it's hilarious)

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UPDATED:

17:53 GMT, 25 September 2012

He is the silver-haired fox whose baking skills and blue eyes have gripped the female nation.

But Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood hasn't quite come to terms with his sex-symbol status yet.

Speaking about the attention he receives in an interview with Closer magazine, the cake making extraordinaire said it is 'embarrassing, flattering' and 'quite silly.'

The silver fox and judge of The Great British Bake Off has attracted a great deal of attention since he hit the screen

Sadly, for his army of avid fans, Paul has been married to wife Alexandra — to whom he has dedicated
his two baking books — for 14 years.

The couple, who live near his
artisan bakery in Kent, have a ten-year-old son, Joshua.

Another woman he is most fond of is baking veteran Mary Berry.

The pair first met eight years ago on a
Food Channel series and instantly clicked, but didn’t work together
again until each was auditioned separately for the BBC bakery
competition, which has become a runaway hit since it started in 2010,
picking up 5 million viewers for the last series and a BAFTA earlier
this year.

Paul and his wife Alex have been married for 14 years and have a ten-year-old son

And caught up in a whirlwind of primetime TV and pastry fans, it is the Wirral-born baker with a knack for making iced buns that has become the star of the show.

Even the man himself, who has been a
cookery show TV regular for eight years, has no idea why he has
suddenly attracted all this heated attention

And what does his wife make of it all

'She probably finds it quite unnerving, but also hilarious. She knows me so well, she just laughs!' he said.

The Great British Bake Off has become a huge hit with millions of viewers tuning in every Tuesday

And although he has baked for the likes of Tom Cruise at The Dorchester as well as the Queen Mother- who often left notes thanking him and saying it was wonderful- the blue-eyed baker is no diva.

'I'm not Simon Cowell!' he told the magazine.

But one thing is for sure, he has certainly helped boost ratings for the third series
of The Great British Bake Off, with audiences of more than five million tuning in every Tuesday night.